Risks of delay in padel and beach

There is always a risk of being left behind in the development of a sport. Padel and beach are no exception.

Italy for beach and Spain for padel are pioneering countries in these sports. They have 4 to 5 times more female members than in France. In addition, the FFT is losing momentum according to Héloïse Clavel's figures: 650 members lost over the last 000 to 2 years.

A delay in the development of these new disciplines would lead to a massive exodus of licensees, whereas a strategy of integration and promotion is a priori a risk without risk for the FFT from the point of view of the licensees. The major sporting risk for these sports would be not having great champions who shine on an international scale.

Italy and Spain as examples?

Italy and Beach Tennis: With more than 300 players Italy is a leader in the world of Beach. No wonder when you know that Beach tennis was born in 000 in Italy where the first courts appeared, in the province of Ravenna, before being introduced in the United States, Brazil and now in a large number of countries such as Australia, Belgium, Spain, etc.

Since 1997, Italy has organized the European championships and the first world championships took place there in 2001. If we look at the "Men's ITF Beach Tennis Rankings" we see that the top 5 are only Italian . And nationality is strongly represented within the top 100.

Among women the world number 1 is also Italian. In comparison, France has 3585 people ranked at the Beach in 2014 (implied licensed), its best French is currently in the 10th ranking and its best French is 8th in the ranking.

Spain and the Padel : The Padel began its conquest by Spain where it was introduced by numerous Latin American immigrants. This sport is the 9th most practiced sport in Spain. With more than 2,3 million people who declare practicing it, i.e. 5% of the population, this makes it one of the countries most involved in the world in the Padel.

In terms of the ranking, we see an overrepresentation of Spaniards in both men and women, but we see more and more initiatives from our best French days trying their luck on the professional circuit in Spain.

Author: Alexandre BRUZAUD,” state=”open” ]Graduated with a Master's degree (specialization in sports marketing and management) from ISC Paris Business School. On a permanent contract since the end of my studies at Adidas France as sales manager in charge of the Paris/Nord region. Passionate about sport, I discovered and joined the Padel during my Erasmus in 2013 in Spain.

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovered padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since then, padel has been part of his life. You often see him touring France to cover major French padel events.